Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs meets with Cuban President

Images via Estudios Revolución

By Alina Perera Robbio, translated from the Spanish

On Thursday afternoon, His Excellency Mr. Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation told the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, that he was "highly honored to be received by you." The President replied highlighting the longstanding mutual solidarity between the two countries: "You are a great friend of Cuba."

At the Palace of the Revolution, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party welcomed the visitor, who had come to Cuba specifically for the Inter-Foreign Ministry Meeting between the Republic of Cuba and the Russian Federation. He said, "First of all, let's take this chance to send a warm greeting to our dear friend, President Putin, and our greetings to all our friends of the Russian Federation."

"I want, first of all, to thank you on behalf of the Party, the Government and the Cuban people for the shipment of fuel that was sent to us a few days ago." The president stressed that this was "an event of enormous significance and of great symbolism"; and emphasized that, beyond the valuable fuel, the gesture "means that Cuba is not alone."

He concluded that the assistance signifies that "in a complex situation, nations such as the Russian Federation stand by Cuba, demonstrating the courage of countries like the Russian Federation to resist being subjugated by imperial policies." Along the same lines, Díaz-Canel stated that this shipment “supports a concept we are defending, which is that we have every right to receive oil, and that other countries have every right to export oil to Cuba.”

Cuban President Díaz-Canel told Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to pass along his gratitude to the Russian government and President Putin, highlighting how much the gesture meant at such a critical moment. He stressed the aid’s importance, noting it was the first and only fuel Cuba had received in four months, making it especially meaningful.

At another point in the conversation, the president mentioned the recent involvement of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, in the 23rd session of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission in St. Petersburg. He emphasized that the determination to advance with all projects remains strong, and reaffirmed the consensus reached with President Putin.

In his words, the Head of State also wanted to "reassert our willingness to continue strengthening political, diplomatic, and economic and commercial ties with the Russian Federation." He also spoke of "continuing to deepen our special relations", as well as "the need to remain united", especially "at a time like this when the world is so chaotic with existing conflicts".

For his part, His Excellency Mr. Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said: "Dear comrade President, I thank you deeply for the opportunity to hold this meeting. We value it as a strong signal, both in the Russian Federation and in the international community, of the special character of the relations that exist between Havana and Moscow."

The friend also expressed his gratitude for the program Cuba organized for him, recalling the moment he was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and emphasized: "I would like to express that, at the present time, Russia is one hundred percent in solidarity with Cuba. We perfectly understand the complexity of the moment the country is going through, and we are by your side."

At this meeting where the solidarity between the two nations set the tone, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Gerardo Peñalver Portal, was also present on the Cuban side.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC